Best Tip Summary – March 7th

Collected from Click4hp:   Feb 26 - Mar 7 2001

There were 11 contributors.

The question posed was:
"If had to share one tip - (only one per person!) with a colleague who was
just about to plan a new project that included some aspect of online
activity - what would it be?"

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Here is what you had to say:

1) Know your audience:
Know the intended target of your website and the goal(s) of the site. Design
the site with these aspects in mind.

2) Direct your intended audience to the site:
Use specific strategies to support the audience to visit the site including
a marketing plan, other ways to access the same information (health
information lines, other print material, news letters, advertising, etc.)
and ensure these other ways point to the online aspects. Just because it is
there does not mean people will find your online venue.

3) Develop your communication plan with a variety of contact points:
Cross-promote between various media.  Include a strategy for traditional
communications such as, newsletters, direct mail, public relations, paid
advertising, networking and personal contacts and relate the strategy to
your online aspects. Build synergy and consistency between the different
media. This applies to mixing activities too not just communications.

4) Keep it simple:
Bells and whistles can detract from content and overload visitors. This can
make a difference from an access point of view as well. Be sure to check out
the recommended sites below.

5) Assess the skill level and knowledge of participants:
Do not assume that everyone will have the same level of knowledge and
expertise about computers, web and email functions. Be clear on where people
are coming from. Perhaps evaluate before hand people's skills and knowledge
as well as their computer capability - i.e. what version of Netscape or IE
do they have? Does their email provider allow attachments and how big? Is
their computer at work or at home? Do they share the line with the phone?

6) Set clear objectives and define success:
Be clear about the objectives of the work and determine what success means
for the project. For example, what would you look for 3 months or one year
down the line that would tell you that you've succeeded? Describe what it
might look like.

7) Involve the community right from the START!

8) Use “Topic Specific” Discussion groups:
Set up distribution or email lists that are small for people interested in a
certain topic.  Send out regular information to keep people up-to-date on
activities that are ongoing.

9) When participating on an email listserv:
When looking for information or asking a question clear and specific about
what you are asking and specify where responses should go – back to the list
or to the person posting the question.

In addition: On Access

Carolyn Frohmader, Executive Director of Women with Disabilities Australia
(WWDA) noted concerns regarding the growing use of graphics and tools that
make accessing web based information difficult. She recommended three good
sites to help people when they are planning web sites.

They are:

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
W3C (Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium)
http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/
These guidelines explain how to make Web content accessible to people with
disabilities. The guidelines are intended for all Web content developers
(page authors and site designers) and for developers of authoring tools. The
primary goal of these guidelines is to promote accessibility. However,
following them will also make Web content more available to all users,
whatever user agent they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser,
mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they
may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated
rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.). Following these guidelines will
also help people find information on the Web more quickly. These guidelines
do not discourage content developers from using images, video, etc., but
rather explain how to make multimedia content more accessible to a wide
audience.

Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby/
Bobby is a tool for Web page authors. It will help them identify changes to
their pages needed so users with disabilities can more easily use their Web
pages. For example, a blind user will be aided by adding a sound track to a
movie, and a hard-of-hearing user will be aided by a written transcript of a
sound file on a Web page. Bobby will recommend that these be added if they
do not already exist. Many people with disabilities will use special Web
browsers, such as one which reads text out loud using a speech synthesizer
for blind users. The suggestions made by Bobby will help authors to add
information to a Web page which will help the special browsers work more
effectively. To learn more about accessibility issues, please start with our
Resources page and follow the links. For example, the "rationale" items on
the IBM Web site give explanations of how specific items can help.


Working Paper for e-commerce reference: web accessibility
Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission
http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/inquiries/ecom/Webworking_paperhtm

Inaccessible web page design either hides the text within images, frames,
applets or animated gifs or renders the text unintelligently in table,
columnar, or portable document format (pdf). Even on-line forms are
inaccessible especially when designed to prevent keyboard navigation and
input. Whether the form is posted for school or event registration or
on-line banking or shopping transactions, people with visual and/or mobility
disabilities are faced with a significant barrier to participation. But the
impact is not limited to people with visual and mobility disabilities.
People with specific learning disabilities are also finding that they can no
longer access web pages audibly with screen readers. Even people with
cognitive disabilities are becoming lost due to the absence of navigation
elements at web sites. Moreover, people with hearing disabilities cannot
access the content of audio streaming and video clips posted on the Internet
due to the absence of captioning.
(Excerpt from the Paper which is very comprehensive).

Other Tips – not related to Online aspects:

Don’t forget the importance of the other Ottawa Charter Strategies: personal
skills; community action; healthy public policies; health services; and
supportive environments (not just limiting ourselves to health behaviours).

One person can make a big difference.

Keep focusing upstream!  Ronald Labonte 'Health Promotion in the Future:
Remembrances of Activism Past' Health Education Journal Vol 58, No 4, Dec
1999, p365-377
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Editorial Note: In some cases responses had more than one important point so
I have edited slightly and broken out responses. In addition there were some
general HP tips – recorded at the end. Finally if your tip was left out or I
have inadvertently misrepresented your intent please contact me and I will
revise it.

Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Liz Rykert